GebrauchsvsgebrauchtesTell them apart

Quick tell: Gebrauchs is a noun, gebrauchtes is an adjective, so they fill different roles in a sentence.

Which to use

“Gebrauchs” is a noun and “gebrauchtes” is an adjective - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.

#43,897
“Gebrauchs” frequency rank
#35,199
“gebrauchtes” frequency rank
79096
confusion score

Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature Gebrauchs gebrauchtes
Definition Genitiv Singular des Substantivs Gebrauch Nominativ Singular Neutrum der starken Deklination des Positivs des Adjektivs gebraucht

Where the eye mixes Gebrauchs and gebrauchtes

Muted = shared; highlighted = the visual trap. They share 9 letters in sequence.

9 ch
Gebrauchs
11 ch
gebrauchtes

Look-alike desk: Gebrauchs vs gebrauchtes

These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: Gebrauchs is [ɡəˈbʁaʊ̯xs] while gebrauchtes is [ɡəˈbʁaʊ̯xtəs]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they differ by 2 letter(s) in length, and the parts of speech differ too (noun vs adjective), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 79096, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.

Gebrauchs is recorded at frequency rank #43,897, classified as anoun, pronounced [ɡəˈbʁaʊ̯xs]. gebrauchtes is at rank #35,199, tagged as anadj, pronounced [ɡəˈbʁaʊ̯xtəs].

Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.

With a confusion score of 79096, this pair ranks #223,894 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs - among the most confusable pairs.

Orthographic DNA of Gebrauchs vs gebrauchtes

Shared letters: abceghrsu. Private to "Gebrauchs": -. Private to "gebrauchtes": t.

"Gebrauchs" · 9 letters · shape CVCCVVCCC  ·  "gebrauchtes" · 11 letters · shape CVCCVVCCCVC

Known mistypes of this pair

  • Gebrauchsegbrauchs · gberauchs · gebaruchs · gebbrauchs · gebracuhs · gebraucchs · gebrauchhs · gebrauchss
  • gebrauchtesegbrauchtes · gberauchtes · gebaruchtes · gebbrauchtes · gebracuhtes · gebraucchtes · gebrauchets · gebrauchhtes

Frequently Asked Questions

Can "Gebrauchs" and "gebrauchtes" be used interchangeably?
No - they are not even the same part of speech. "Gebrauchs" is a noun and "gebrauchtes" an adjective, so a sentence built for one is usually ungrammatical with the other.
Frequency check: "Gebrauchs" vs "gebrauchtes" - which ranks higher?
"gebrauchtes" is the more common of the two: it sits at frequency rank #35,199 in our German list, against #43,897 for "Gebrauchs". The two are close in frequency, so neither is a safe default; check the meaning rather than guessing.

Useful next steps

Pronunciation already separates them, if the page still looks alike, the dictionary links below settle it.

  • Full dictionary entry for "Gebrauchs" with definition, IPA, and generated misspellings. Word entry
  • Full dictionary entry for "gebrauchtes" - compare definitions side by side with the headword page. Word entry
  • This pair ranks #223,894 of 2,006,359 scored German confusable pairs in this corpus vintage. Corpus statistics
  • "Gebrauchs" and "gebrauchtes" also get mixed up with nearby pairs, the highest-scored neighbour is "gebrachte vs gebrauchtes". Nearby pair
  • Recorded mistypes exist for at least one side of this pair, useful when a spell-checker or OCR lands on the wrong form. See mistypes

Confusion rank #223,894 of 2,006,359 scored German pairs, corpus vintage 2026-09-03, not spelling advice.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list